In Search of Fair Weather
by Armae
Summary: Two young men are trapped. One is stolen by a man bent on destruction. The other is freed by an unlikely liberator and must search the Planet for his lost companion. Sometimes, the cure for a broken soul can be found in the most unlikely of friendships.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Square Enix.

* * *

**Prologue: An Unlikely Liberator**

* * *

_Cruel hands scraped and clawed at him, mercilessly tearing at his soul. He moaned in pain as demonic laughter broke out around him, mocking his weakness. Escape was futile__**. **__Any longer and he would succumb to madness... _

"_Mad like... me, for instance, Turk?!" A psychotic cackle echoed from the darkness. Hojo's maniacal face loomed before him and then disappeared. The ashen face of a babe flickered through the shadows, featureless. Tears of Mako streamed from empty eye sockets. Then suddenly, an insubstantial form shimmered before him, like the weak flame of a candle against the breeze. Her back was turned away from him, her voice filled with loathing and resentment as she spoke._

"_It's your fault!" she whispered harshly. "I never got to hold my son!" He reached out to hold her, to beg her for forgiveness, but as always she disappeared._

_He felt his heart tear asunder all over again__**. **__"__All I did was watch... I didn't even try to stop...Lucrecia..."_

_He shuddered, but clung to the nightmare. He found the alternatives to be much more terrifying: __wakefulness, reality; the body of a monster.__ In sleep, he could atone. To him, the blood curdling nightmares were a never ending macabre cleansing ritual. They seared like flames at his guilt and corroded his soul in deserved penance. Just when he felt he couldn't stand it any longer, the nightmare would end, and he would feel himself moan on some distant plane of consciousness. Then he would wait in the depths of his psyche, both dreading and longing for the inevitable descent into his self inflicted torment once again. So it had been, and would always be. That is, until…_

"_No more nightmares, Mr Valentine," a feminine voice said gently, causing Vincent to reel in shock. Soft, melodious laughter trickled cheerfully into his consciousness, incongruous with the usual sinister torture that his mind produced. _

'_I _am_ descending into madness,' he thought to himself, his astonishment fading to apathy. 'I suppose it was inevitable.'_

"_Aren't you curious to know who speaks to you in your mind?" she asked, somewhat affronted by his sudden indifference._

'_Not particularly,'_ _Vincent thought dryly._ '_I am merely contemplating the last vestiges of my sanity.'_

_The mysterious voice spoke again solemnly, all traces of merriment restrained. "I have been chosen to represent the will of the Lifestream," she continued. "You seek atonement from your sins, correct?" He couldn't see her, but somehow knew that she was smiling at him. "Don't you think you would have a better chance at redeeming yourself in the real world, rather than in the land of nightmares?"_

"…_This is my punishment," he replied simply. _

_Her soft chuckle echoed in the darkness. "Punishment for what, exactly?" _

_Vincent remained silent. He knew that he could never redeem himself from his sins, the sins against Lucrecia, against her child. He should not have let her and Hojo use that poor infant as a research specimen. In Vincent's mind, nothing could justify experimentation on an innocent child. _

'_Sephiroth,' he thought despondently.__ Any resulting trauma to that child was Vincent's burden to bear. He knew he deserved this... his monstrous form. It was the price to pay for his inaction. _

_After a few moments of silence, the voice sighed and finally spoke, disrupting Vincent from his dismal reverie. "The Planet is crying out for a hero to save it from what is to come, Vincent." she said._

"_Not interested." _

"_It isn't you, silly!" She laughed again, rich and full of good humor. Vincent groaned in exasperation, wishing that the incessant voice would leave him alone._

_Even through the oppressive darkness, he could sense her smile, warm yet full of mirth, as if she was amused by his annoyance.__"It's someone who needs your help. You'll find out who soon enough. Now, it's time to wake up."_

"_Huh?"_

"_Wake up!"_

Vincent stirred, dimly registering discomfort in his muscles. He was drawing closer to full consciousness. Whatever he was lying on was soft, but not comfortable. When he shifted slightly he found that his movements were restricted. He was in a very tight space. A pungent smell was becoming stronger and stronger. _'What is that?' _he wondered. As the cloying stench of decay hit his nostrils with the force of a slap, it finally dawned on him. He was inside a coffin in the ShinRa mansion crypt, where he began his tormented slumber. A slight chill swept through his body at the realization.

Reluctantly admitting that he was fighting a losing battle to stay asleep and oblivious, Vincent sighed and opened his eyes. It was dark. Not that he had anticipated otherwise, but this 'reality' was so eerily similar to his nightmares. Was he even truly awake?

'_One way to find out_,' he thought as he pressed his hands against the coffin lid and pushed. It moved. A crack of light filtered through the opening. He navigated his fingers around the gap and pulled the lid across completely. It fell to the floor with a loud thud.

"Ugh."

'_How could _light_ possibly be this painful?!' _Vincent thought as he scrunched his eyes closed. He lay there a moment, and took a deep breath. He immediately regretted the action, remembering too late that he was not the only occupant of the crypt. _'That explains the smell,'_he thought. His crimson eyes slowly creaked open. He blinked a few times, adjusting to the light from the flickering bulb above. He sat upright. _'My head...'_ he groaned inwardly as he felt the blood rush as it throbbed in pain. He extended a hand to rub at his aching temples.

"Argh!" Vincent grunted in shock. He had managed to scratch himself with his left hand somehow. He glared at the offending appendage to find it encased in a gold (and particularly sharp) gauntlet. His other hand reached up to his headband and followed an ebony strand of his hair from the root to the tip, trailing a gloved finger along the red tattered mantle around his shoulders. '_My hair has grown; it must go halfway down my back,'_ he mused. '_How long have I slept?' _He looked down at himself. He was wearing black leather clothing, and like his gauntlet, his boots were also gold. _'The garb of some fiendish beast,'_ he thought bitterly. '_Why am I dressed... like this?_ _I was last in my Turks uniform, before..._' his mouth formed a hard line.

'_Hojo.' _

Hojo had shot him and mutilated his body with experiments. When Vincent awoke on the operating table, he was alone. Appalled by his monstrous body and his failure to prevent Hojo's atrocities, he had sealed himself in the coffin, there to sleep away an eternity of sins. Vincent looked back down at his clothing again in disgust. _'In all likelihood, Hojo __had one of his lab lackeys dress me like this, as some kind of warped vampire joke__._'

"Hmph." He let out a humorless chuckle, which turned into a rasping cough. His throat felt dry; the husky sound of his own voice startled him. It made sense he supposed, he hadn't had anything to eat or drink for... however long he had been in here.

'_Just one of the "advantages" of being a monster_.' He distracted himself from his thoughts by swinging his aching legs up and over the side of his coffin and out onto the dusty, stone floor._'A stretch may be beneficial._' He looked around the crypt, noticing for the first time the number of coffins surrounding him. He was struck by a morbid thought, _'How many of these coffins hold failed experiments?'_ Mildly perturbed, Vincent shook his head and walked towards the crypt door and tried the rusty handle and found it locked. Hojo had locked him in.

"Tch." He grunted and suppressed the temptation to roll his eyes at the words of the mysterious woman earlier. _'Somebody needs my help,' _his mouth twisted in irony. '_How am I supposed to help when I am locked in here?'_ As he turned back towards his coffin, his boot connected with a metal object. He turned his gaze downward. It was a gun, covered in cobwebs and dust. Vincent reached down and picked it up. It was a well crafted, three barreled revolver. There was a yellowed note attached to the grip by a decayed thread of string:

"_Turk. You acted exactly as I hypothesized, sealing yourself away in here. Does your new outfit meet with your approval? At any rate, thanks to my scientific genius, you are now immortal. Unhindered, you could live forever if you wish, as you will never age. However, I theorize that you may die from wounds inflicted upon your person, no matter how strong you are as a result of the monsters I put inside of you. Wouldn't it be interesting to find out? Here is a gift to aid your choice. I am sure your will appreciate the design. ~ Hojo._"

Vincent glanced at the sights on the barrels. They were decorated by three dog heads. Dangling from a silver chain at the bottom of the grip was a trinket, with the same three headed dog design. He recognized it as Cerberus, the dog that in mythical legend guarded the gates of the underworld.

"…To prevent the dead from ever escaping," Vincent said out loud. He could practically hear Hojo's twisted cackle. "The sick..." Vincent refrained from uttering an obscenity, balling the note into his fist and throwing it aside. He brushed the dust off the gun, and found that it was loaded. Casually, he aimed at the lock on the door and fired. The handle shattered instantly, and the door creaked open. He grunted and lowered the gun, slightly surprised by the accuracy of his aim. As he watched the smoke clear, he heard footsteps echo in the distance. Another door was swung open, in the lab perhaps. A blade was unsheathed. A scream echoed throughout the underground labyrinth, piercing through the dull silence.

"SEPHIROTH!!"

Vincent's blood red eyes flared.

'_Sephiroth?! Her son?!' _Without any further thought, Vincent hastily made his way through the dank tunnel, the sound of strangled screams guiding him. He turned a corner, and his suspicions were confirmed. The screams were from here, the lab. He opened the door and was stunned by the sight that greeted him. A man in black with long flowing silver hair was standing in a pool of blood. The body of a lab assistant lay strewn across the floor.

"Sephiroth?" Vincent asked. Sephiroth turned around to face him. Despite his silver hair and glowing green cat eyes, Vincent could see evidence of _her _in him; _her _nose, _her_ lips, _her_ facial bone structure. But unlike his beloved Lucrecia, the man before him had eyes that were filled with cruelty. Vincent's heart sank.

"Just like Hojo,"Vincent muttered under his breath. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he only just noticed that Sephiroth was carrying a young man over one shoulder, limp as a ragdoll. Judging from his disheveled uniform, he was a ShinRa Infantryman, with a mop of wild blond spikes for hair and skin as pale as porcelain. Vincent cast his eyes away from the sickly young man and spied a wicked looking katana, longer than any he had ever seen, gripped in Sephiroth's other hand.

"Sephiroth… what are you doing?" Vincent muttered as he took a hesitant step forward.

Sephiroth fixed his cold gaze upon him. "You," Sephiroth's voice resonated with hatred he raised his bloodied sword to Vincent's neck, "_You _are not worthy of that knowledge, human."

'_Human?'_ Vincent could not decide if it was an insult or a compliment to a monster like him. He closed his eyes. _'Please… just take my life as payment for the sins I have committed against you and your mother,'_ he begged silently. _'Kill me so that I may finally rest.'_

"Oh? You accept death so readily?" Sephiroth said, causing Vincent to open his eyes. The sinister smirk that crept across Sephiroth's face made his blood chill."Then it shall be denied to you." Sephiroth moved his sword away from Vincent's neck to gesture to the bloodied lab assistant on the ground, gasping for breath. "_He_ is desperate to live, but he shall be denied that as well, just as _you_ humans denied my ancestors their right to the Planet." Sephiroth smiled coldly as he and the blond haired youth he carried began to fade and then disappeared completely, leaving Vincent standing alone in the bloodied laboratory.

'_This mansion is built on blood, it seems,' _Vincent thought idly._ '__What now?_ _Do I go back to the coffin to sleep away an eternity of sins? Could I ever sleep them away? Or...'_

He frowned._ 'Sephiroth.'_ Lucrecia's baby had grown into a cruel man**. **He felt he owed it to Lucrecia to find out the fate of her son. After all, Vincent had an eternity to sleep afterward. _'But how to find someone who just... disappears...'_ he looked around the room, and jerked in surprise as he caught sight of a Mako tube.

"There is somebody in there!" Vincent said out loud, alarmed. He remembered those tubes. As an unwilling subject of experimentation himself, he had spent more time in them than he cared to remember. He looked at the young man sleeping in the Mako, and pitied him for whatever circumstances had led him to this fate. He wouldn't wish it on anyone, except maybe...

"Hojo," he said venomously, "when will your madness _end_?" On impulse he pressed the 'drain' button on the tube's panel, and the Mako slowly drained out. Then the door opened. A young man with dark hair as spiky as that of the infantryman fell into Vincent's arms, pale and unconscious.

"Oof." '_Heavy_,' thought Vincent, noticing for the first time the SOLDIER uniform the tall man was wearing. '_No wonder_.' Vincent wrinkled his nose involuntarily in disgust as some of the foul-smelling Mako seeped onto his own clothes. _'What am I doing? Is this the person that needs my help? _He looked down at the SOLDIER. He wouldn't be able to carry him, not after what were probably years of sleep and atrophied muscles. He had no choice. While he didn't relish the thought of using the strength of the dreaded monsters inside of him, if he had a chance at atonement by saving this young man from a fate worse than death...

'_Since when were you the heroic type__?'_He sneered inwardly to himself. Well, he could hardly leave him here now. Vincent sat the sodden man down for the moment, closed his eyes and began to concentrate. He tapped into the reservoir of power inside of him that lay dormant, only surfacing in his nightmares to torment him. Now he would utilize the pain and humiliation for his own purposes.

"Chaos," he murmured as the change washed over him and the rage began to uncoil through his body.

'_So...painful,_' he thought, gasping as he felt the muscle tissue and bones in his back tear and reconnect. The sound of twisting joints was sickening. He let out a guttural growl as he let Chaos take over his body. Not his mental state however; he remained in control of the mindless, raging beast. Finally, to Vincent's relief, the transformation was complete and the pain subsided. He stretched out his leathery red wings and stumbled slightly at the unfamiliar weight. 'This will take some getting used to,' he mused. He bent down and scooped the unconscious SOLDIER into his arms, the weight no longer a hindrance. He turned to leave when a bloodied hand grasped at his ankle from behind.

"He… help me! Please! I'm begging you!" the dying assistant gurgled, blood seeping through clenched teeth. Turning his monstrous body around, Vincent glared at him.

"You did this… to him?" Vincent growled menacingly as he hefted the man he carried. The assistant's ashen face paled further.

"N-n- no! I mean, yes, but I only did what Hojo told me to do!" he cringed in fright as Vincent snarled at him, bearing his fangs as he shook his ankle out of the wretched man's grip.

"Then his sins are your sins. You do not deserve mercy."Vincent turned on his heel, exiting the lab and leaving the bloody massacre behind him.

Vincent jogged through the dank tunnel, gaining speed as he adapted to his new form. Stairs and dilapidated rooms blurred in his vision as he ran through the mansion until he arrived at the main foyer. Vincent's now yellow eyes glared up at the glass ceiling. _'Too late to turn back now.' _With a forceful flap of his demonic wings he burst through the roof and out into freedom.

"An...geal… is..," the SOLDIER coughed, causing Mako to spill forth from his mouth. "…is… tha…you…?"

"Huh?" Vincent looked down at him. For a split second, bright violet-blue eyes glanced blearily at him and then closed.

"Your… w-wings," the younger man struggled to grind the words out. "What's... what's… wrong… with them...?" he whispered, the effort causing him to slip back into unconsciousness.

Vincent grimaced at the few simple words.

'_Everything.'_

_

* * *

_

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you think. It's my first fan fic, so be gentle! ^_~ A big thank you to my wonderful, patient betas, Chibipinkbunny and Blue Jae, for their advice and encouragement. You guys rock!**

**"Hey, wait!" I hear you cry.**** "Isn't this story supposed to be about Zack?" ****Why, yes. Yes it is. You'll find out more in Chapter 1, which will be done soon. ^_^**


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter One: A Chilly Introduction**

**

* * *

**

Zack shivered against the cold, hard ground. He tried to shift his body into a more comfortable position, but his aching muscles cried out in protest. He slowly opened his eyes. It was dark, the ceiling above shimmered a familiar, iridescent green, sparkling with beads of water.

'_It looks like one of the mako caves we visited in Mount Nibel…' _His brow creased in puzzlement. _'But how did I get out of that hellhole basement? This has got to be a dream.'_

"Ah! That's cold!" He brushed the moisture of a fallen droplet away from his forehead.

"You're awake." a deep voice echoed from behind him.

"Huh?!" Any trace of sleepiness vanished instantly as Zack sat upright and turned around to face the voice. A glowing pair of eyes pierced through the darkness. Red like warm blood, they exuded anything but tiny hairs on the back of Zack's neck stood on end. He cleared his throat nervously.

"What do you want with me? What do you want with…?" His eyes widened and he suddenly leapt to his feet. "Cloud!! Where is...he...?" His head swam as the sudden blood rush assaulted his senses and his knees buckled underneath him. He reached out with gloved hands to protect his fall and gasped from the effort to support his own weight. "What is wrong with me today?"

"You're still weak from the mako." The gravelly monotone voice replied.

Zack touched his sodden uniform. He was drenched in mako, which explained the metallic stench and chill. He managed to pull himself up to his feet again and stagger toward the man leaning by the cavern wall. Pushing his fears aside, Zack gritted his teeth and abruptly grabbed the pale figure by the cloak around his neck and yanked him forward. "Where is Cloud?! What have you done with him?" When there was no reply, Zack gave him a rough shake. "Answer me!"

"Cloud... the blond infantryman? I've done nothing to him," the stranger replied evenly.

"Then where the hell is he?" Zack tightened his grip on the cloak, but even in the darkness he could tell that the stranger was still not the least bit intimidated.

"He was taken from the basement laboratory… by a man named Sephiroth."

Zack's eyes flared, and he shoved the man against the cave wall, causing some rubble and dust to rain down upon them. "You're lying!" he hissed. "Sephiroth is dead! Cloud was the one who killed him!"

"I take it you have a history with… Sephiroth."

Zack released his grip on the man's cloak and took a step back. "What do you know about him? Are you his ally?" his hand instinctively grabbed for his sword, only to find it missing. His breath caught in his throat. "What the-- my sword!" He looked about the cave in panic. "Where is it?!"

"One would presume that it's back at the mansion," the stranger said.

"We have to go back and get it!"

"…You're serious?" The man shrugged and folded his arms. "I'd have thought your life was worth more than a sword, but do whatever you like."

The familiar words brought Zack's frantic thoughts to a standstill. _'He's right, I'm not thinking straight…'_ The loss of Angeal's sword had blinded him to reality. "We are in the Nibel Mountains, aren't we?" he said softly. The stranger gave an affirmative grunt. Zack suddenly felt very sheepish. "Did you… did you carry me here from the mansion?"

"I did, although I'm beginning to regret the decision," he replied as tried to dust himself off.

Zack moved away to give him more space. "How did you manage that?" he asked.

The stranger gave an exasperated sigh. "With great difficulty."

"Why?" Zack asked.

"Why… what?" a hint of frustration was beginning to show in the stranger's voice.

Zack lifted his gaze, trying not to be unnerved by the crimson eyes before him. "Why did you save me?"

"...I am unsure of that myself," the man replied.

Zack folded his arms. "That seems like a lot of effort to go to if you're unsure."

"Hmph."

Zack shuffled from foot to foot. "Anyway, I'm sorry about... you know, roughing you up just now. I'm just really worried about Cloud. He's sick and... well, if Sephiroth really took him like you say, then I'm even more worried." He waited for a response, but was greeted by silence. "Well, at any rate, thank you," Zack mumbled. "You saved my life."

"I'm going outside," the stranger said abruptly and began to walk to the cave's exit.

"Hey!" Zack scowled. "Aren't I even going to get a 'you're welcome?'"

"No." The stranger's voice echoed throughout the cave.

"Uuh... okay then. Hey wait!" Zack followed his taciturn rescuer outside and into the light.

"Aargh!" Zack squeezed his eyes shut, his skin stinging from the flurry of snow. He opened his eyes carefully and squinted at the stark expanse of white that stretched before them. Any trees were swallowed by the greedy winter that consumed the land. They were standing on a narrow outcrop. Behind them stretched the foreboding Mount Nibel, its frosty peaks towering shuffled to the edge of the cliff. "Exactly how did you get us up here?" he asked as he peered cautiously over the edge. "I don't see a path anywhere."

"I flew," The stranger said softly, his words nearly carried away by the snow-speckled wind.

"Huh?" Zack turned to look back at the man behind him. He had a truly disconcerting appearance. Dressed in black and red, with a golden claw gleaming wickedly, he reminded Zack of a vampire, one that might appear in a creepy horror film."On the way to a Halloween party huh?" Zack joked nervously. The man lifted his head up and glowered at him. Zack gave an involuntary gasp. _'__I pinned this guy to the wall? Bad move, Zack.'_ While those blood-red eyes were frightening in the darkness of the cave, Zack could have convinced himself that they were a figment of his imagination. But outside, they still burned like undying embers against the pure white snow.

Zack realized he was staring. "Um, sorry, I'm being rude. I'm Zack. Zack Fair." He thrust out his hand. The man looked at it, but didn't move to take it.

"Vincent Valentine." He muttered.

The silence was deafening as Zack's hand remained awkwardly in the air. He finally withdrew it and rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Well er, pleased to meet ya, Vince."

Vincent's eyes narrowed. "Vincent."

"Sorry, Vincent." Zack let out a shudder and rubbed his arms to warm himself. "So what's the plan?"

Vincent's face remained expressionless as the frigid air whipped about them.

Zack raised an eyebrow. "You don't have a plan, do you?" Zack sighed and clasped his hands behind his head and stretched. "What are you doing here anyway?" he asked, raising his voice over the harsh cry of the wind. "I mean, before you rescued me, what were you doing? Were you an experiment too?"

Vincent turned away. "I have nothing to say to a stranger," he said sharply.

Zack frowned. "Fine then, don't tell me. But I want to look for my friend, and we need to find a way down this cliff," he said, gesturing downwards, "And last time I checked, I don't know how to fly." A sudden gust of wind caught Zack off guard, pushing him towards the edge. "Whoa!!" He wheeled his arms around in circles, trying to regain his balance, but it was too late.

The earth crumbled beneath his feet, and he plunged like a stone from the cliff. Before he had time to think, a flash of red and black halted his descent. He glanced at the cruel claws of the gauntlet that dug into the underside of his arm, slightly breaking the skin. Zack looked up, heart threatening to erupt from the wall of his chest as he was faced with a red-winged, monstrous beast with gleaming yellow eyes.

"Do not misunderstand," the creature growled against the wind. "It would have been a waste of my time to rescue you in the first instance if you were to fall to your death soon afterward."

"V-vincent…?! Is that you? What the--!"

Suddenly, Zack was dropped unceremoniously into a pile of snow on the ground. He spat out the cold, powdery substance that had managed to find a way into his mouth. "Well at least we've found a way down the cliff," he muttered, teeth chattering in the cold. He turned to grin at Vincent. "That's a lot of effort to go to for a 'stranger', don't you thin-" he stopped at the sound of bones grinding and popping, and moans of pain. Zack's eyes widened as he saw Vincent return to his human form and collapse into the snow. "Vincent!" Zack stumbled to his feet and rushed over to him. "Hey, are you okay, man?" Vincent lifted his head weakly in response, his already pale face now a chalky white. "What was that about anyway?" Zack asked.

There was no answer, just the sound of a tattered cloak snapping in the wind. Zack sighed, his breath frosting in a cloud of vapor. "We need to get you out of this blizzard." He shivered and looked down at his arms, which were beginning to take on a blue tinge. "_I _gotta get out of this blizzard too, for that matter." He started doing squats rapidly in to try and raise his body temperature. He looked imploringly at Vincent. "You wouldn't happen to have a spare fire materia on you?"

"…"

"I'll take that as a no, then. We need to find somewhere warm to rest, and fast." Zack turned around and scanned the horizon, a difficult task in a snowstorm.

He walked over to Vincent, still sprawled out in the snow. "Okay vampy, nap time's over. Time to move!" he grabbed Vincent's leather-clad arm, draped it across his shoulders and hauled the man up onto his feet. They moved forward a few paces before Zack was shoved aside.

"That… won't be necessary," Vincent muttered and disentangled himself from Zack's grasp and walked on ahead.

Zack rolled his eyes. "Fine, but don't blame me if you pass out again!"

Vincent trudged forwards a few steps, then stopped, tilting his head and looking quizzically into the wind. "Wait…" he paused, "I hear something."

Zack barely had a second to breathe before Vincent whipped around and pulled out a gun, aimed squarely at his stomach. "Hey! What are you-"

"Behind you."

"Huh?" Zack spun around. Two mangy looking animals, dirty fur rising in matted hackles up their spines, growled hungrily at them. "Wolves!" Zack gasped in horror. He was completely defenseless. If he had his sword, taking them down would be effortless. _'Hell, even if I was strong enough right now to tackle them it would be great!'_

"Get down," Vincent said calmly and cocked his gun.

"Oh, right!" Zack threw himself down into the snow. _'Thank Gaia Vincent's armed.'_ He waited for the shot.

It never came.

"Anytime now, Vincent!" Zack yelled as the wolves drew nearer, stalking them in lazy circles.

"My gun is jammed. Distract them."

"What?!"

The wolves were so close now that Zack could smell their warm, fetid breath. He slowly rose to his feet. One of the wolves snarled at the movement and dove for Zack's foot. He winced as the tips of sharp fangs punctured his thick leather boot, and bright red blood seeped out to stain the painfully white snow. He clenched his fist and slammed it down heavily on the wolf's skull. It yelped, stunned, and released its grip. Zack spun around as the second wolf launched itself at his arm.

He flattened his hand and delivered a slicing blow to the wolf's windpipe, stopping it dead in its tracks. Zack kicked the animal square in the ribs and it bellowed in pain. He frowned. He should have been able to break the animal's ribs with the force of that kick, but he didn't hear the expected crack.

Zack fell to his knees and gulped at the cold air as it rasped through his throat. Perspiration froze to his forehead and he shivered. He was tiring. The wolves were wearing him down. Seemingly recovered from his attacks, they began circling him, licking their teeth. Suddenly the two wolves hurled themselves at him, jaws wide and drooling in anticipation of a split jugular.

'_Time to run, I'm not stupid enough to try and fight now,'_ Zack thought as he scrambled to his feet and tried to run through the thick snow. "Damn it!" he cursed as his injured foot became stuck in the snow drift, his pride smarting more than the wound. "This should have been a cinch," he muttered as he shook his foot free. He looked around. The wolves were nowhere to be seen. "Vincent! Where'd you go?" Zack yelled over the wind, flecks of snow stinging as he struggled to see through the snow storm. He narrowed his eyes as he spied a red smudge in the snowy expanse. "Vincent?" he called out as he hobbled forward, leaving a bloodied footprint in his wake.

Zack gave a startled jump as he heard a bloodcurdling roar from behind him. He slowly turned and faced a leathery-winged beast before him, its form obscured by the snow. He gave a sigh of relief. "Oh Vincent, you transformed! I thought I'd lost you back there." He looked at the two lumps of fur behind the beast. The wind ruffled the mangy hair of the fallen wolves as the snow rapidly covered them. "I see you took care of the wolves, good job!"

He looked at the straggly limb in the beast's mouth and grimaced. "Ugh, if you were hungry you could have just said so, that thing isn't even cooked!" he said with disgust. The beast growled and hulked towards him. Zack splayed his hands in a calming gesture. "Hey, don't be like that! Who am I to judge if you eat like a caveman—hey!" Zack found himself being hauled away from the beast, a golden claw grasping his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Vincent snarled. "Run!"

"Vincent?!" Zack yelped in surprise and pain from the gauntlet that scratched his arm. He looked back behind them as they ran. "_That_ isn't you?!"

"Evidently. It's a Valron."

"A Valron?" Zack gasped, "But that's… you…what the hell _are_ you anyway?" He immediately regretted his words when Vincent looked at him coldly.

"I'm a monster," Vincent muttered so softly that Zack almost couldn't hear him. "But I am not mindless like a Valron."

'_I guess I struck a sore point,'_ Zack thought guiltily. "I… I didn't mean it like that…sorry," he panted.

"What you think of me is irrelevant," Vincent said harshly, "Just keep running."

Zack nodded and tried to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. His foot was bleeding freely now from the wolf's bite, the warm liquid flooding his boot as he limped.

"You're injured," Vincent said simply.

"Yup, but it's the least of my worries right now," Zack puffed, "Where are we running to anyway?"

"Away from that creature."

"Obviously, but what… then? We're in a bad situation! Can't you… turn into that beast again and fly us away from here? Find a town or something?"

Vincent didn't respond. The only sound was their booted feet crunching through the snow.

"Hey, did you hear me Vincent? I said –"

"I'm… too weak," Vincent said finally. "I can't reach him."

"'Reach him?'" Zack asked. "'Him' who?"

Vincent turned his blazing eyes to him. "Chaos. The beast inside of me."

Zack drew in a sharp breath. "Inside of you?"

Vincent looked back in front of them. "I have four beasts inside of me. Chaos is one of them."

Zack eyed the leather clad man up and down. "But you're so skinny!"

Vincent shot him a disbelieving glance. "Can I blame that idiotic remark on the cold?"

Zack shrugged. "Probably." He looked at Vincent, who didn't seem to be exhausted at all from the running. "So… the cold doesn't affect you?"

Vincent shook his head. "No, it doesn't."

"You… lucky… bastard," Zack wheezed.

Vincent glared at him. "That doesn't mean that I enjoy it."

Zack's lip quirked in a smile and he looked behind them cautiously. "Looks like the Valron is gone."

Vincent shook his head. "They can fly," he said and pointed a gloved hand upward.

Zack looked up. "Oh, shit." A purple-black orb swelled towards them. "A Demi spell!" Zack shouted.

"It won't kill us…" Vincent began, fumbling with his useless gun.

Zack cringed and braced himself for the imminent attack. "But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt like-" the impact of the spell knocked the wind out of him. Zack fell face-first into the snow. Whatever dwindling strength he had before dissolved and he cried out in pain. He heard Vincent groan and slump to the ground as the attack hit him too. Zack's eyelids felt as heavy as lead and he tried to focus on Vincent's form beside him. _'I can't pass out… this isn't… how it's supposed to end.'_

"Maybe… Hojo was wrong," Vincent grunted. "Doesn't… matter… now…"

"Hojo…?" Zack asked,

"Hojo said that he made me… immortal. But maybe, I can die… and finally be at peace."

Zack glared at Vincent. "Don't… say stuff like that! We'll… be alright…" Zack's certainty waned as the Valron swooped down beside them, preparing to strike.

"…Lucrecia," Vincent whispered.

'_Lucrecia?'_ Zack wondered numbly as Vincent's eyes drooped closed.

"Hey!! What are ya doin', calling for your mama?" a harsh voice shouted above them.

Zack lifted his head up in time to see an ash blonde man thrust his spear into the Valron. Its eyes rolled back into its malformed skull as it fell in a crumpled heap.

With fading consciousness, Zack watched the man yank his weapon out of the Valron's corpse and wipe the blood stained blade off onto the snow. He lifted his goggles up and grinned, a cigarette dangled precariously from his lips.

"Welcome to Rocket Town, pansies!"

* * *

**A/N: Thanks Chibipinkbunny for your help with editing, and your patience with my currently flu-addled brain ^_^; Thank you also to Blue Jae for your help with the earlier draft! **

**I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think guys! ^_^**


End file.
